Mobile devices, such as smartphones, are severely battery-limited. The capabilities of mobile device processors have increased at exponential rates, but battery technologies have improved at much slower rates. As a consequence, it is ever more important that mobile devices be operated in battery-preserving manners.
Analysis of camera and microphone data, e.g., for recognition purposes, are tasks that are particularly battery-intensive. Mobile device cameras typically capture 30 to 50 frames of imagery per second. If each frame is processed to decode a barcode or steganographic digital watermark, or to otherwise recognize a subject depicted in the frame, the device battery would be exhausted quickly. Accordingly, such recognition processing is not routinely performed. Yet it would be advantageous if such devices were able, practically, to analyze incoming camera/microphone data in more of an on-going fashion, to serve as adjuncts to the users' eyes and ears.
One aspect of the present technology concerns methods and arrangements enabling recognition-processing of imagery and audio to be on-going, without the high battery drain that has characterized the prior art.
The foregoing and additional features and advantages of the present technology will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.